I apologize if I misunderstood you, but I thought you'd said you disagreed with history and heroes?...
Yes, I disagree that history can define heroes. Because of the countless contrasting POVs and the huge moral dissonance, it's impossible for history as a whole to come up with a single definition.
However, I think that each one of us can come up with our own definition of "hero".
I don't think that somebody who'd let the world be destroyed by the God of Evil rather than shooting him could ever be called a hero. If anything, I'd call him an incredibly selfish, egocentric, repulsive mental case.
On the other hand, you think that heroes are those who never, ever compromise their principles, no matter what.
Our ideas are too conflicting, so we can't reach any agreement besides "we agree we disagree". That's fine with me. I just feel the need to voice my opinion when some variant I strongly disagree with is presented as the standard.
So basically Bruce can't win, here.
Basically, yeah. That's precisely why, while I enjoy reading his adventures, I consider will-kill-if-I-absolutely-have-to Wonder Woman much more of a hero than Batman.
I'd believe that if Bruce hadn't been shown to be on friendly terms with people like Ollie or Roy, or if he hadn't been the one asking Superman to shoot on Diana when she was blinded as part of the League's testing her.
The problem with comic book characters is that they can be wildly different in their appearances, as they are written by different people.
I remember Batman shunning Diana after she killed Max Lord. I remember him telling Dick!Robin that, if a villain is in danger, even if the villain is the Joker, they must be willing to die to save him. I remember him slicing Jason's neck rather than letting him shoot the Joker (yes, for once the Joker wasn't threatening anybody's life there and then, but how many hours would that have lasted?) I remember him demanding that Huntress stop using lethal force when fighting criminals. Etc etc etc.
Plus, Ollie and Roy are A-listers, and having them all on the same team sells, so DC can't have Batman not be on friendly terms with them.